John Fritze, USA TODAY
Published 9:26 a.m. ET Aug. 29, 2020 | Updated 1:39 p.m. ET Aug. 29, 2020
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Buildings were torn apart, windows left shattered and light posts ripped from the ground after Hurricane Laura tore through Lake Charles, Louisiana.
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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump will be in Texas and Louisiana on Saturday to tour damage caused by Hurricane Laura, a massive storm that leveled homes and businesses as it slammed ashore this week with 150-mph winds.
Trump will visit Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Orange, Texas, the White House said. He is set to survey damage from the Category 4 storm, which made landfall on Thursday, and receive briefings on emergency operations and relief efforts.
The president arrived in Louisiana at 1:19 p.m. ET. Reporters traveling with the president could see blue tarps on houses and debris from Air Force One.
As we were landing, we could see scenes of debris, blue tarps on houses, foundations where houses might have been, trailer park with jumbled trailers.
The storm left tens of thousands without power and has been blamed for at least 14 deaths according to the Associated Press.
Trump signed a disaster declaration for Louisiana on Friday.
“Now it turned out we got a little bit lucky. It was very big. It was very powerful but it passed quickly,” Trump said Thursday during a visit to the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
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The Louisiana Department of Health estimated that more than 220,000 people are without water. Restoration of those services could take weeks or months, and full rebuilding could take years.
Forty nursing homes were relying on generators, and assessments were underway to determine if more than 860 residents in 11 facilities that had been evacuated could return.
Contributing: The Daily Advertiser
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